Dream a little dream...

Two wheels to carry a nation - the Honda Dream, bike of choice for every city dwelling Vietnamese. Hop on the back of one of these and for half the price of a taxi you can cross town in style - without a helmet, of course, but you'd hardly look the part showing off to your mates with your face covered up...





There are as many Hondas in Hanoi as there are bicycles in Beijing - and they rule the roads. Guys drive their adoring girlfriends around town, pairs of giggling girls gossip on their way, market traders carry all their ware in cardboard boxes piled inbetween their legs and it is not uncommon to see whole families squished on the back of their two seater.

Come evening there are hardly any four-wheelers around and the streets become bike tracks - and fewer cars means fewer crashes. If only we had our bike licenses, we'd traffic-dodge like the best of them - although I'm not sure how mandatory those slips of paper are in South East Asia - but until then, we'll make do on the back of a moto-taxi...